The sport of snowmobiling has become increasingly popular over the past several decades. It is believed that this increase in popularity can be attributed, at least in part, to advances made in snowmobile design technology. As a result of this increase in popularity, snowmobile traffic on trails in New England states, Mountain States and the Upper Midwest has increased. It is expected that the popularity of snowmobiling will continue to grow, and that congestion on snowmobile trails will increase.
It is believed that the growth in snowmobile traffic has resulted in an increased number of snowmobile related accidents. Many of these accidents occur at night. Generally, snowmobiles provide lighting in the form of headlights and taillights. These lights have at least two purposes. They allow the snowmobile operator to see the terrain, and they increase the visibility of the snowmobile to others. The headlights and taillights of snowmobiles presently on the market do not remain on when the snowmobiles are turned off. As a result, snowmobiles which are turned off may pose a hazard at night if they are not sufficiently visible to other snowmobile operators. Snowmobile operators have many reasons to turn off their engines, which in turn results in turning off the headlights and taillights. While snowmobiles have become increasingly reliable, mechanical failure often occurs and requires turning off the engine. In addition, snowmobile operators often stop their vehicles for various other reasons including resting checking fluid levels, changing gloves, reading a map, and the like. In general, snowmobile operators do not want to leave their snowmobiles running when they stop for prolonged periods of time. The reason is that the cooling systems of most snowmobiles are designed to have snow constantly thrown onto their heat exchangers by means of forward propulsion. Prolonged idling can cause the engine to overheat and ultimately become damaged.
Snowmobile operators sometimes carry flashlights with them at night. When they leave their snowmobile on the side of a trail or on a lake without any illumination, it poses a hazard to other snowmobile operators in the vicinity. If they leave a flashlight with the snowmobile to illuminate it, the flashlight tends to project light in essentially one direction and may not provide sufficient warning for other snowmobile operators in the vicinity. Furthermore, the cold temperature has an adverse effect on the batteries causing a decrease in voltage and a dimming of the light.
Snowmobiles have become much faster over the years. As a result, snowmobiles often travel at high speeds, even at night. It is believe that many snowmobile operators travel at speeds which are unsafe considering the illumination provided by their headlights. Even if the snowmobile operators are not traveling at high speeds, the snow conditions may be too slippery or icy to permit rapid braking once an object comes within view of the snowmobile operators' headlights. Many groomed snowmobile trails have sharp corners and turns which decreases the visibility of potential hazards in the trails such as stopped snowmobiles. When the hazard is another snowmobile which is not illuminated, severe injury can result if the snowmobiles collide. With the increase in snowmobile deaths in recent years, a need exists for providing better illumination for snowmobiles which have been turned off.